From the BBC NetWork Africa Programme - Tuesday 8 October 2002 Rebels and government forces in Ivory Coast are both claiming victory, after a fierce battle for the second city of Bouake. There is confusion about who is in overall control but rebels appear to have held on to the centre of the city of 500,000. The government launched an offensive on Sunday evening to try to wrench Bouake from the hands of rebels and there was fierce fighting throughout Monday. After reports of clashes in the early hours of Tuesday, residents said the streets were now quieter. The battle began after the government ruled out signing a ceasefire, despite hopes at the weekend that the two sides would agree a truce agreement, brokered by West African diplomats. Advance Earlier, an army spokesman had told the BBC that the rebels fled northwards during a government offensive, and soldiers are no longer meeting any resistance. But one of the rebel leaders, Sergeant Sherif Usman, told journalists in Bouake that it was his forces who were in charge. "The loyalists have fled and it is we who control Bouake," he said. "They entered the city, then retreated because they took major casualties," he added. For more than two weeks the city has been in the hands of rebels from the Patriotic Movement, who control much of the north of the country. Sergeant Usman, with his arm in a sling after being wounded during the fighting, said that rebel reinforcements had arrived. "We are preparing an offensive, it's the strategy we shall adopt from now on," Sergeant Usman said. He said the rebel fighters would head south "with vehicles and heavy weapons". Dignity The latest violence broke out after the government launched an offensive rather than signing a ceasefire brokered by West African negotiators. However, Communications Minister Serri Bailly said if they could retake Bouake then the government might be in a position to sign an agreement. The minister said with Bouake under their control, they would no longer be approaching negotiations humiliated and without dignity. The rebels have been calling for the overthrow of President Gbagbo and for fresh elections in which all political parties would be allowed to participate. Many of the rebels come from the largely Muslim north of the country and have long complained of discrimination by Christian southerners. The former colonial power, France, sent in extra troops to evacuate Westerners and has recently begun providing technical and logistical support to government forces. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~